Martin Dempster: Open at St Andrews is top priority for Martin Laird, at expense of Ryder Cup hopes

MARTIN Laird, Scotland's highest-ranked golfer in the world, has revealed that a burning desire to play in an Open Championship at St Andrews for the first time next summer is likely to rule out the chance of him turning up at one of the tournaments Colin Montgomerie is keen to see his Ryder Cup contenders attend.

The 26-year-old from Glasgow has been considering coming over from his base in Arizona to play in the PGA Championship at Wentworth in May and admits he would love to be in a position to tee up in more European Tour events in addition to the Barclays Scottish Open.

However, one of Laird's top priorities in 2010 is the 150th anniversary of the Open and, as was the case when he played at Turnberry this year, his route into that looks as though it will be through the international final qualifier in the States, thus ruling out the European Tour's flagship event.

"I looked at trying to come over to Wentworth but it doesn't seem that is going to work out as the IFQ in the US is the Monday after the PGA Championship," he said. "I also looked at the local qualifiers but that would mean I'd miss the AT&T, one of the bigger tournaments over here.

"It is kind of annoying because I'd love to come back and play three, four or five events in Europe but when you sit down and look at schedules it is difficult. That's the difference the FedEx Cup has made. Normally I wouldn't mind taking a few tournaments off but now, with so much money at stake, you could drop yourself down and cost yourself a lot of money."

During a short visit to Scotland just before Christmas – his first since winning on the PGA Tour back in October – Laird took the chance to pop over to St Andrews from his parents' home in Upper Largo to play the Old Course for only the second time in his life. He loved it and, unlike former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance, came away giving his backing to the new tee being introduced by the R&A at the 17th to help put some bite back into the 'Road Hole'.

"The Open is the one tournament I'd love to play next year – and not just because my parents live close to St Andrews. It is the one major and one location that is probably high on everyone's list," he said. "I'm coming back for the Scottish Open the week before and that would make it a perfect fortnight for me.

"I actually played the Old Course with my dad (Charles] when I was back in Scotland recently. It was a great day and we had a fun game. I'd only played it once before – in the World Schools' event a long time ago.

"I can kind of see why they are extending the 17th.

"I played off the old championship tee and it didn't play long. I hit a good drive and only had a 9-iron into the green. It is still a tough shot with a club like that in your hand and I hit it over the road into a position where I was dead.

"However, there's definitely not the fear factor it used to have when guys were going in there with a 4-iron."

Since returning to Scottsdale, Laird, who will head into the New Year as the world No104 – 13 places above Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay – has been preparing for the start of his 2010 campaign in the SBS Championship, a select-field event involving all the winners on the PGA Tour the previous year, in Hawaii next week.

"It is one of the things that will make my win (in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open] sink in," said Laird, the first Scot to triumph on the US circuit since Sandy Lyle more than 20 years ago. "It's an event I'd normally watch on TV and that's where everyone wants to start the year as it means you've had a good season the year before.

"I certainly had that but my life's not changed at all, to be honest. The only thing that has changed, I suppose, is that I can plan my year a bit more. I know which tournaments I will be able to play and don't necessarily have to play courses that might not suit me as well as others. It has taken a lot of the pressure off me in the off-season.

"My first goal for 2010 is to get off to a good start. I've struggled to do that in the past and not just for the last two years on the PGA Tour. Even when I was on the Nationwide Tour I never got off to a good start. This year I am determined to play some decent golf before May."

Other goals include a second PGA Tour title, breaking into the top 100 in the world and a place on Montgomerie's team at Celtic Manor, though Laird, who spent Christmas in Colorado with his American girlfriend and her family, admits a Ryder Cup a bit further down the road is probably a more realistic target.

"Now I know that I'm capable of winning out there I am determined to do so again and, if I can, then I'll be able to climb up the world rankings," he added. "While I'm proud to be the top Scot at the moment, I don't like the fact I've got that honour for being 104th. I wish I could be higher than that and the top 50 is one of my goals for the future.

"It would be great if myself and another couple of the Scottish guys had a good year in 2010 and maybe even made that Ryder Cup team because it would be a shame to have Monty as the captain and not have a Scottish player on it.

"If I get my season off to a good start, who knows? I may be up there in the points list. When it gets to the summer, that's when you can start think about really making a push for the team and making a claim for a spot.

"The Ryder Cup is definitely one of top goals in my career and, hopefully, I'll play in more than one team. But I'm not going to go out and play more tournaments or have a different schedule to try and get into it this year."